Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Especially since we can't do anything about it. Alaska does have snow for seven to eight months of the year, you know. "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas..." because I know that's what we'll have.

This is my attempt to capture one snowflake. I think I caught more than one, but oh well. They were very tiny today.

There is snow piled everywhere, looking really pretty. And it's still falling.

This is how much snow we have just off of our porch, though actually, it's snowed another four inches since I took this picture.

Up here in Alaska, we also don't have very much daylight. This is the sunrise on the 20th of December. This picture was taken at 11:30 in the morning.

This is the sunrise on the 22nd of December. Again, it's at 11:30. The sun sets for us around 2:30 so we only have about 3 hours of daylight We did get our Christmas tree set up around the first of the month.

Rista Cat thinks she's a Christmas present.
Here she's claimed her brush. "My brush, no one is allowed to touch it." Actually I just thought she looked cute the way she was sleeping on it. If we leave it on the floor, she will try to brush herself with it.

This past week

This past week has been very busy for us with our two year anniversary and thanksgiving. To start with, the Saturday before our anniversary, the 22nd, we went into Fairbanks and bought a new vehicle. It's a Toyota Highlander, 2008. We're planning for a few years down the road when we have a couple carseats in the back. (No news on THAT yet, though.) Even though it looks gray in the picture, it's actually a greenish color. It's really cool with a moonroof, heated seats, a backup camera so you can see what's behind you, and it drives really well on the snow and ice. We figured the Highlander can be our anniversary gift for the next several years. :)

We had a wonderful anniversary. Michael surprised me by having roses sent to my work. They are gorgeous and smell beautiful. Michael is so sweet.

After work, we went to eat out at a local Fairbanks restraunt. I had almond breaded chicken and Michael had a seafood pasta. The restraunt treated us to a dessert of Baked Alaska since it was our anniversary. Baked Alaska is a piece of dense chocolate cake, covered in vanilla ice cream and whipcream and then baked for a few seconds and drizzled with raspberry syrup. It was very delicious.For thanksgiving, we went over to the house of one of the families in the church. Two other families were there as well, so we had eight adults and eight kids. Here's one of the little girls. She's slightly autistic, but she is so fun and cheerful.

After the turkey was eaten, the kids wandered upstairs to watch movies and the adults sat around the table and played a card game; Dutch Blitz. We played that game for at least three hours, probably more like four. I think the adults were louder than the kids. Since it was Michael and my game, we were boasting that we were going to win. It ended up that we didn't, but we came in second place. Everyone had fun. We didn't leave there until after midnight.
This is just a picture of a sunrise on the way to church last Sunday. It's ten o'clock and the sun isn't even above the horizon. It sets at three. That gives us a total of five hours of daylight. We're less than a month away from the shortest day of the year.

Updates (with Camera)

Well, Sarah may not have a camera to post updates with, but I do. Last weekend, I stopped by Altus, OK to pay Tom and Michelle a visit. Actually I stopped by to see lil' Benjamin but don't tell anyone. I was able to spend a couple of days with them before I arrived at Fort Lost in the Woods, Misery, I mean Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. We had a great time as you will see in the pictures below. 

Michael and his "little" sister, Michelle.

Michelle and Benjamin. He is 14 months old.

Michelle and her sweetheart, Tom.

The entire Conroy Clan

Tom & Benjamin

Benjamin and the Sunday Morning...nap?

Chow time!

Benjamin looks so tired...

Updates

Michael took the little camera with him when he went down to Missouri for TDY, so I can't post any pictures on here, but since I was sitting around doing nothing anyway, I figured I would let everyone know what's been happening up here.

For the past week, the temperature has been hovering around zero or below. Mostly below. I just looked outside now at noon and it was only 3 above. When your working night shift, those belows can be pretty cold, especially if your outside a lot.

What am I doing on night shift all of a sudden? My shop had a big shipment come in--9 trucks and thirty 20 foot containers of all the ammo Eielson will need for the next six months or so. While it was coming in, we had to work around the clock and I was one of the lucky ones to pull the night shift. It wasn't that bad, though. At least it wasn't the normal routine we'd get back in the shop. Once all the trucks came in we got to scrape all the hazard labels off the containers; 4 per container. When it's past midnight, the temperature is around -15 and you have a razor blade that's so dull it wouldn't cut paper, it makes for an interesting night. Happily, we got some new blades though. We got all the labels scraped off and went home around 3am instead of 6 like we were originally planning. That's all over, though, so it's back to normal come Wednesday. (We have Monday and Tuesday off for Veteran's Day.)

I was told about a week ago that I'm in the deployment bucket that begins leaving in December, but as of right now, there are no taskings for Senior Airman. If I had gotten that Staff stripe, though, I'd probably be going. Michael and I are praying that a Senior Airman tasking doesn't come down. I did enjoy going to Baghdad three years ago (wow was it that long?) but I'd rather stay home this time and work on being a wife. :)

Not much else is happing up here in the frozen north. I think I saw some moose tracks out the bathroom window this morning. They were spaced about as far apart as human tracks, but the shape of the print is all wrong. If it is a moose, ol' moosey was within two feet of the window.

Well, Michael should be back on the fifteenth. Until then...

Tag!

Hyperlinks for those tagged have been added below. When adding add links to your text, highlight the word(s) you want to be the link, select the button with the chain link (next to font color) on your posts page, then copy the web address where it lists "URL", hit "OK" and you are done. MWH

Laura tagged me today. I usually don't keep these things going, but I thought it might be fun. So, lets see, what are seven random facts about me?

1. At last count, (back in April) I had 120 something frogs in my house. The count has grown quite a bit since. (probably about 90% are mine)
2. I tell myself stories and often act them out.
3. I write down some of my stories and hope to one day have a full novel.
4. I get very goofy when I'm tired.
5. I can't stand doing the dishes. Touching dirty dish water grosses me out.
6. I can read a 300 page (or longer) book in a day. I get so involved, I tune out all the rest of the world and sometimes don't even stop to eat or sleep. Michael keeps me from getting that involved, though.
7. My mind works a hundred times faster than my mouth so sometimes I stutter when I speak and I don't like speaking to people I don't know.

I don't think I'll tag seven people, mostly because I don't like chain emails (or in this case a chain blog). Maybe just my sisters, Becky, Rachel, and Elizabeth and Michael's sister Justine. I'm not sure how to put the links to their blogs here, but their blogs are in the list on the edge my blog.

Miscellaneous stuff

Ahh, snow. What Alaskans have for seven months out of the year. We had snow on the ground when we came back from our trip to Colorado, and except for one day when it warmed up to 50 degrees and everything melted, we've had snow ever since. I doubt we'll see the ground again until late April. That hasn't slowed the cat down any, though. She still begs to go outside every day.

I can't decide if she's trying to help me write my story or if she's just making up for the fact that she can't find any mice outside since the snow fell.

"I've been working on this problem for the past hour and I still can't figure it out!!!" Michael has been taking an Algebra class. It's the last class he needs before he can get his Associates degree through the Community College of the AF.

Just a random self portrait of me since I put on a picture of Michael. I had to look at him to get myself to smile for the camera. :)

Colorado Beauty

We just got back from a week in Colorado; where the Autumn colors were at the peak and the temperatures were about 80 degrees the whole time. It was a way to avoid the bare trees and dropping Alaska temperatures a littlelonger. Michael even ended up with a bit of sunburn.
Fall colors reflected in a pond near Scotland Trail on the Grand Mesa. Another view of the beautiful scenery on the Mesa.

Sarah's Grandparents stopped in for a visit as well.
This young buck was about 30 yards from the house one day with a half dozen does to keep him company. There was also a good-sized buck that hung around, but we never saw him except at large distances or after dark.

Don't we make a great couple? We think so too!
Sarah's folks posing in the shade of some vibrantly colored aspens.

Yes, HMMWVs Can Get Stuck

HMMWV is the military acronymn that stands for High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle. Commonly known as a "Humvee". Contrary to popular belief, HMMWV's are not invincable and able go "anywhere". SSgt Michael Huntington's shop borrowed some HMMWVs for training. They all got a little more training than was bargained for. Below is the result of an inexperienced driver challenged with driving conditions other than a hard-packed surface, aka MUD.
The view from the front of the vehicle with the camera near the ground. notice the HMMWV is axle deep in mud and the bottom of the chassis is resting on the ground (High-Centered).
The whole picture with everyone trying to decide what to do next...
A close up of the front wheel on the driver's side. Just a sampling of all four tires.

Adventures in Alaska

Michael's dad & brother (Bob & Isaiah) came up from Idaho for a visit over Labor Day weekend. It was Isaiah's first time flying and the first time to Alaska for both of them. Some of their adventures are listed below. Enjoy!!!
NORTH POLE, ALASKA. The home of Santa Claus. Did you know the official zip code of Santa is 99705?
The Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline. It runs from the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay all the way to the Gulf of Alaska at Valdez (pronounced "Val-deez"), a total of 800 miles.

Oh yes, Can't forget about Mike & Sarah. Yeah, they had fun too!
MT. MCKINNLEY. Also known as Denali. Denali is the highest peak in North America standing at 20,300 feet. As seen from Denali National Park on one of the best days of visibility we have seen since we have been up here!

Sarah & Isaiah taking pictures of some scenery in Denali Park.
Is it brother against brother? Or did the same thing catch their attention? I wonder...

Yep, Isaiah's getting serious about photography too!
Who is THAT?! Oh, its Michael. He actually showed his face to the other end of the camera!

Fall Colors

The colors are really starting to change up here. The aspen and birch are turning gold, the fireweed is turning dark red, the wild rose is turning orange with bright red rosehips. Everything is very pretty. These are some berries I found behind our house. A berry book we have says they're cranberries and they are edible, but I haven't tried them yet. Rista is helping me check out the pretty colors.

"Don't you think I blend right in?"

President & Family Visit Eielson AFB!!

President, Mrs Bush, and their daughter.stopped by Eielson on Monday for a short visit while their plane was refueled. They were on their way to Asia for the Olympics.
Here is the Presidential family exiting Air Force One. (photo from Eielson public affairs. The rest are mine)
The President speaking to the "Iceman" warriors of Eielson AFB.
President Bush only a few feet away from Michael's position.

This is the best picture we have with Michael and Mr President. Hopefully we can find a better picture to post.
Here is Michael with a friend and the First Lady.
And a real, live Secret Service member. He looks just like one from the movies! Or could it be the other way around...?

You can also check out these sites for more information & pictures:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/08/20080804-7.html

http://www.eielson.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123109390